Scorpion-tailed spider: an amazing “chimera” mixed a spider and a scorpion (7 photos)

Scorpion-tailed spiders, or tail spiders, are very controversial creatures. They are widespread, have a lot of cool abilities, but at the same time... we know almost nothing about them! A whole genus of spiders with incomprehensible outgrowths on the fifth point and such a failure in knowledge!





That same cucumber that was left in the refrigerator for too long and mutated into something incredible.

The scorpiontail genus includes 12 species. They differ from each other in small nuances of silhouette, color and degree of hairiness. The females look the brightest: ladies flaunt exquisite outfits from inconspicuous pale yellow to fatal burgundy. Males, in most cases, remain inconspicuous gray-brown tones.



Natural candies with different fruit flavors!

You can meet scorpiontails in Africa, East and South Asia, Australia and Oceania. They live in the forest, in the shade of trees or near a pond, where they rest quietly and peacefully on cobwebs. Given its size, the spider weaves for itself full-fledged mansions with a diameter of 1-2 meters. So they sit, pretending to be forest trash, until a careless insect gets caught in the net. Just like the most common spiders. If it weren't for this strange bug...





No plastic! Everything is your own, natural!

What is this strange appendage at the end? Tail!? Yes and no. No living spider has a real tail. This part of the body fell off as unnecessary somewhere between 400 and 100 million years ago.



- Do you see the tail? - I see. - But he’s not there!

And the scorpion-tails thought and decided that everything new is well-forgotten old. The spiders attached a long appendage to the end of the carcass. The organ moves and functions like a real tail. Yes, and it looks the part. So to simply call it a “scion” would be unfair.



No scorpions or spiders. I'm just a twig!

Today, a whole hypothesis has been put forward to answer the logical question “why”. Scorpiontails grew a tail to look like scorpions. Brilliant, isn't it? It was not possible to make a sting, but our heroines know how to bend the appendage onto their backs in a threatening pose, as the scorpions themselves do. They can be motivated to perform this acrobatic act by a loud sound, sudden movement or any other threat. True, things won’t go further than showing off - spiders are not poisonous. Even their bite is practically harmless.



Milady, your acting skills are beyond praise. I beg you, get out of your role, stop playing Scorpio, I believe you!

Interestingly, only females have a “tail”. The guys don't have any appendages - they look like ordinary spiders. In addition, they are microscopic: if females grow up to 3 centimeters, then the maximum for a male is 2 millimeters. The difference is 15 times!



With each molt, the “tail” grows along with the owner.

Whether the strong spider sex has complexes about size is unknown. It doesn't matter. Considering the method of reproduction of most representatives of the family of orb-weaving spiders, to which our heroes belong, the males usually die after mating. More precisely, they are eaten by the female. After a hearty meal from her ex-lover, mom lays about 60 eggs. The relationship between the female scorpiontail and her children remains classified. Let's hope that at least she doesn't eat them!